The UAE is not one register but forty-odd. Each emirate has a Department of Economic Development that issues licences, each free zone runs its own registry, and the federal Ministry of Economy offers a public lookup that covers a fraction of the total. Understanding who is licensed where, and verifying the data, is a harder problem here than in most markets.

That fragmentation is exactly why commercial providers exist. A handful of players have spent years stitching the picture together, from CRIF (which is also D&B UAE) and Creditsafe to local credit-intelligence firms. The federal credit bureau, Al Etihad Credit Bureau, covers the credit layer, and individual authorities run portals for their own jurisdictions.

This guide ranks {count} providers on merit, with a focus on who genuinely sources local data and who resells. Our own pitch sits in a marked box.

In a hurry? The short answer

Business information and D-U-N-S

CRIF / D&B UAE · Local D&B partner with regional credit and compliance

Federal credit bureau data

Al Etihad Credit Bureau · The central bank's regulated bureau for credit reports

Multi-country credit reports

Creditsafe · Consistent scoring including UAE and the wider GCC

Free-zone and DED lookups

NER / individual portals · The federal lookup plus each authority's own portal

UAE plus other markets in one format

CompanyData · That is us. One schema across 200+ markets

Jump to a provider

1. CRIF / D&B UAE: the D&B partner and credit bureau

The local Dun & Bradstreet partner and the strongest single source for UAE business intelligence.

CRIF operates as the D&B partner for the UAE and the wider Gulf, combining Dun & Bradstreet's global file with local sourcing across emirates and free zones. It offers D-U-N-S numbering, business credit reports, compliance screening and company-verification services. For a market as fragmented as the UAE, the ability to pull together data from multiple licensing authorities under one provider is the core value.

UAE (CRIF Gulf) · Quote only · Built on: DED registers, Free-zone registries, D&B network

✓ Why it stands out

  • D-U-N-S and D&B global linkage
  • Local sourcing across UAE authorities
  • Credit, compliance and verification combined

⚠ Watch out for

  • No public pricing
  • Enterprise-oriented
  • Best for structured deals, less for quick lookups

2. CompanyData

Full disclosure: where CompanyData fits in the UAE

We publish this guide and we sell UAE business data. Our UAE file covers 719,000 businesses across emirates and free zones, with a named contact for about one in five. That is a market where contact data is genuinely scarce, so we are transparent about the gaps.

We do not provide AECB credit reports, D-U-N-S numbering or compliance screening. What we offer is a structured, searchable file of UAE entities alongside 200+ other markets, in one format and one API. For the credit and compliance layer, use the providers above; for reach and segmentation, come to us.

719K

UAE businesses

131K

with a contact named

18% of the file

207K

phone or mobile

0

email addresses

0

websites

The UAE is a market where contact data is scarce. We focus on entity records and ownership structure links rather than claiming contact coverage we cannot back up.

See our UAE business data

3. Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB): the federal credit bureau

The regulated federal credit bureau, essential for any credit decision in the UAE.

Al Etihad Credit Bureau is the UAE's federal credit bureau, regulated by the Central Bank. It collects credit data from banks, finance companies and government entities and issues credit reports and scores for individuals and businesses. For any regulated credit decision in the UAE, AECB data is the baseline that lenders, landlords and government entities check against. Commercial business-information reports sit on top of this layer.

Abu Dhabi, UAE · Subscription; regulated fees · Built on: Central Bank UAE, Banks, Government entities

✓ Why it stands out

  • The regulated federal credit bureau
  • Required baseline for credit decisions
  • Covers banks, finance companies and government data

⚠ Watch out for

  • Credit layer only, not a business-information platform
  • Access requires registration as a subscriber
  • Does not stitch together free-zone and DED data

4. Creditsafe UAE: the international option

Multi-country credit reports that include the UAE, from a global group.

Creditsafe covers UAE companies as part of its global credit file, with online reports, scores, monitoring and API access. Its strength is the same cross-border consistency it brings everywhere: a UAE report reads the same as one in Europe or the US. For multi-country credit and compliance work that includes the UAE and the wider GCC, it is a convenient single contract, though local depth trails CRIF/D&B.

UAE coverage · Subscription, quoted · Built on: UAE authorities, International registers

✓ Why it stands out

  • Consistent scoring across countries
  • API and monitoring
  • Single contract for UAE and global

⚠ Watch out for

  • Local depth trails CRIF/D&B
  • Annual commitment
  • Not locally headquartered

5. NER / DED & Free-Zone Portals: the official lookups

Free lookups from the government, but fragmented across dozens of portals.

The National Economic Register (NER), run by the Ministry of Economy, offers a free federal lookup of UAE commercial licences, and each emirate's Department of Economic Development and each free zone runs its own portal, some with open search and some behind registration. For a single licence check, NER or the relevant DED portal works. For volume or stitching together the full UAE picture across dozens of authorities, commercial providers exist precisely because these portals are fragmented.

UAE (government) · Free · Built on: MoEC, DED, Free-zone registries

✓ Why it stands out

  • Free official lookups
  • NER covers federal commercial licences
  • DED and free-zone portals for specific jurisdictions

⚠ Watch out for

  • Fragmented across 40+ authorities
  • Coverage and depth vary by portal
  • No unified bulk download or API

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How the UAE data landscape formed

A young country built on emirates and free zones, each with its own authority:

Structural · Seven emirates, dozens of free zones

Each emirate has a Department of Economic Development that issues commercial licences, and each free zone runs its own registry, making the UAE not one register but forty-odd.

2014 · Al Etihad Credit Bureau launches

The UAE establishes a federal credit bureau under the Central Bank, giving the market a regulated credit layer for the first time.

Ongoing · CRIF operates as D&B UAE

CRIF Gulf takes the D&B partnership for the UAE and the wider region, stitching together data from multiple licensing authorities under D-U-N-S numbering.

Recent · NER expands federal lookup

The Ministry of Economy's National Economic Register grows as a free federal lookup of commercial licences, but individual authorities remain the source of record.

The UAE data landscape

Global groups dominate the commercial layer, with the federal bureau and government portals underneath:

UAE-based

  • Al Etihad Credit Bureau (government)
  • NER / DED portals (government)

Global players in the UAE

  • CRIF / D&B UAE (CRIF, Italy / D&B, US)
  • Creditsafe (Creditsafe Group)

Forty registers and the data gap

The UAE is a federation where business licensing sits with each emirate's Department of Economic Development and each free zone. JAFZA, DIFC, ADGM, DAFZA and dozens of others each run their own registry. The result is that there is no single company register to download or query. The NER lookup covers federal commercial licences, but the full picture requires pulling data from many authorities.

Contact data is a second challenge. Email addresses and websites are not part of the licensing record, and phone numbers are scarce. Any provider claiming high contact coverage in the UAE should be asked to prove it. The credit layer runs through the regulated federal bureau (AECB), while the commercial business-information layer is dominated by CRIF/D&B with support from Creditsafe. Here are the official starting points:

Four questions before you sign anything

1. How many authorities do you need to cover? If you only care about one free zone or one emirate, the relevant DED or free-zone portal may suffice. For the full UAE picture, a commercial provider that stitches together data from dozens of authorities saves you the fragmentation headache.

2. Credit or entity data? For regulated credit decisions, AECB is the baseline. For business verification, D-U-N-S numbering or compliance screening, CRIF/D&B or Creditsafe. These are complementary layers, not substitutes.

3. How much contact data do you need? The UAE is a market where email and web coverage is genuinely scarce. Ask any provider for a sample and check the fill rates before committing. Do not assume global fill rates apply here.

4. UAE only, or the wider GCC? If you need Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the rest alongside the UAE, favour a provider with regional reach, CRIF/D&B and Creditsafe cover the wider Gulf, as does our own file.

Frequently asked questions

No. The UAE has no single company register. Each emirate's Department of Economic Development issues commercial licences for mainland businesses, and each free zone (JAFZA, DIFC, ADGM, DAFZA and many more) runs its own registry. The National Economic Register offers a free federal lookup of commercial licences, but the full picture requires pulling data from dozens of separate authorities. That fragmentation is exactly why commercial providers exist.
Al Etihad Credit Bureau is the UAE's federal credit bureau, regulated by the Central Bank. It collects credit data from banks, finance companies and government entities and issues credit reports and scores for individuals and businesses. For any regulated credit decision in the UAE, AECB data is the baseline. The commercial business-information providers (CRIF/D&B, Creditsafe) add company verification, compliance and broader data on top of this credit layer.
Because email addresses, websites and even phone numbers are not part of the licensing record in most emirates and free zones. The data that licensing authorities hold is entity name, licence number, activity code and sometimes address, not contact details. Any provider claiming high contact coverage should be asked for a sample and fill-rate proof before you commit.
In practice, yes. CRIF Gulf operates as the Dun & Bradstreet partner for the UAE and the wider region, combining D&B's global file and D-U-N-S numbering with local sourcing across emirates and free zones. You deal with CRIF Gulf as the local entity, and D-U-N-S is the identifier that ties it to the global D&B network.
Because they solve a different problem. The global sales-intelligence platforms do not source data from UAE licensing authorities, and their local entity coverage reflects that. For business verification, credit, compliance and working with the fragmented UAE register landscape, the providers on this page are the right tools.